Numbers in German

Cardinal numbers, ordinals, decimals, fractions, expressing prices in English and German


numbers

Cardinal numbers. Grundzahlen:

German/DeutschEnglish/Englisch
0null zero
1eins one
2zwei two
3drei three
4vier four
5fünf five
6sechs six
7sieben seven
8acht eight
9neun nine
10zehn ten
11elf eleven
12zwölf twelve
13dreizehn thirteen
14vierzehn fourteen
15fünfzehn fifteen
16sechzehn sixteen
17siebzehn seventeen
18achtzehn eighteen
19neunzehn nineteen
20zwanzig twenty
21einundzwanzigtwenty-one
22zweiundzwanzigtwenty-two
23dreiundzwanzigtwenty-three
24vierundzwanzigtwenty-four
25fünfundzwanzigtwenty-five
26sechsundzwanzigtwenty-six
27siebenundzwanzigtwenty-seven
28achtundzwanzigtwenty-eight
29neunundzwanzigtwenty-nine
30dreißig thirty
31einunddreißigthirty-one
32zweiunddreißigthirty-two
33dreiunddreißigthirty-three
34vierunddreißigthirty-four
35fünfunddreißig thirty-five
36sechsunddreißigthirty-six
37siebenunddreißigthirty-seven
38achtunddreißigthirty-eight
39neununddreißigthirty-nine
40vierzig forty
41einundvierzigforty-one
42zweiundvierzigforty-two
43dreiundvierzigforty-three
44vierundvierzigforty-four
45fünfundvierzigforty-five
46sechsundvierzigforty-six
47siebenundvierzigforty-seven
48achtundvierzigforty-eight
49neunundvierzigforty-nine
50fünfzig fifty
51einundfünfzigfifty-one
52zweiundfünfzigfifty-two
53dreiundfünfzigfifty-three
54vierundfünfzigfifty-four
55fünfundfünfzigfifty-five
56sechsundfünfzigfifty-six
57siebenundfünfzigfifty-seven
58achtundfünfzigfifty-eight
59neunundfünfzigfifty-nine
60sechzig sixty
61einundsechzigsixty-one
62zweiundsechzigsixty-two
63dreiundsechzigsixty-three
64vierundsechzigsixty-four
65fünfundsechzigsixty-five
66sechsundsechzigsixty-six
67siebenundsechzigsixty-seven
68achtundsechzigsixty-eight
69neunundsechzigsixty-nine
70siebzig seventy
71einundsiebzigseventy-one
72zweiundsiebzigseventy-two
73dreiundsiebzigseventy-three
74vierundsiebzigseventy-four
75fünfundsiebzigseventy-five
76sechsundsiebzigseventy-six
77siebenundsiebzigseventy-seven
78achtundsiebzigseventy-eight
79neunundsiebzigseventy-nine
80achtzig eighty
81einundachtzigeighty-one
82zweiundachtzigeighty-two
83dreiundachtzigeighty-three
84vierundachtzigeighty-four
85fünfundachtzigeighty-five
86sechsundachtzigeighty-six
87siebenundachtzigeighty-seven
88achtundachtzigeighty-eight
89neunundachtzigeighty-nine
90neunzig ninety
91einundneunzigninety-one
92zweiundneunzigninety-two
93dreiundneunzigninety-three
94vierundneunzigninety-four
95fünfundneunzigninety-five
96sechsundneunzigninety-six
97siebenundneunzigninety-seven
98achtundneunzigninety-eight
99neunundneunzigninety-nine
100hundert one hundred
101hunderteinsone hundred one
102hundertzweione hundred two
200zweihunderttwo hundred
300dreihundertthree hundred
400vierhundertfour hundred
500fünfhundertfive hundred
600sechshundertsix hundred
700siebenhundertseven hundred
800achthunderteight hundred
900neunhundertnine hundred
1000tausend a thousand
1001eintausendeins
tausendeins
eintausendundeins
tausendundeins
one thousand one
1002eintausendzweione thousand two
1100eintausendeinhundertone thousand one hundred
1101eintausendeinhunderteinsone thousand one hundred one
2000zweitausendtwo thousand
3000dreitausendthree thousand
100.000hunderttausendone hundred thousand
500.000fünfhunderttausendfive hundred thousand

Large numbers:

German/DeutschEnglish/Englisch
1.000.000eine Million one million
2.000.000zwei Millionentwo million
2.000.001zwei Millionen einstwo million one
1.000.000.000eine Milliarde one billion
1.000.000.000.000eine Billion one trillion

  • An interesting thing about German which makes it confusing is that the one’s place is said before the tens: einundzwanzig, which literally would be like “one and twenty”.
  • The numbers in German are written as one word up to one million.

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers (Ordnungszahlen)

  • Rules for making ordinal numbers.
    • The 2nd and 4th up to the 19th add the ending -te to the cardinal number.
    • From the 20th to the 100th, the 1000th, the 1,000,000th add the ending -ste to the cardinal number.
  • The 1st and 3rd numbers are irregular.
GermanEnglish
1.erste first
2.zweite second
3.dritte third
4.vierte fourth
5.fünfte fifth
6.sechste sixth
7.siebente /
siebte
seventh
8.achte eighth
9.neunte ninth
10.zehnte tenth
11.elfte eleventh
12.zwölftetwelfth
13.dreizehntethirteenth
14.vierzehntefourteenth
15.fünfzehntefifteenth
16.sechzehntesixteenth
17.siebzehnteseventeenth
18.achtzehnteeighteenth
19.neunzehntenineteenth
20.zwanzigstetwentieth
21.einundzwanzigstetwenty-first
22.zweiundzwanzigstetwenty-second
23.dreiundzwanzigstetwenty-third
24.vierundzwanzigstetwenty-fourth
25.fünfundzwanzigstetwenty-fifth
26.sechsundzwanzigstetwenty-sixth
27.siebenundzwanzigstetwenty-seventh
28.achtundzwanzigstetwenty-eighth
29.neunundzwanzigstetwenty-ninth
30.dreißigstethirtieth
31.einunddreißigstethirty-first
32.zweiunddreißigstethirty-second
40.vierzigstefortieth
50.fünfzigstefiftieth
60.sechzigstesixtieth
70.siebzigsteseventieth
80.achtzigsteeightieth
90.neunzigsteninetieth
100.hundertstehundreth
101.hunderterstehundred-first
200.zweihundertstetwo-hundredth
300.dreihundertstethree-hundredth
400.vierhundertstefour-hundredth
500.fünfhundertstefive-hundredth
600.sechshundertstesix-hundredth
700.siebenhundertsteseven-hundredth
800.achthundertsteeight-hundredth
900.neunhundertstenine-hundredth
1000.tausendstethousandth
2000.zweitausendstetwo-thousandth
100 000.hunderttausendstehundred-thousandth
1 000 000.millionstemillionth
Fractions

Fractions (Bruchzahlen)

German/DeutschEnglish/Englisch
1/2ein halb (a) half
11/2eineinhalb oder anderthalb one and a half
21/2zweieinhalb two and a half
1/3ein Drittel a third
2/3zwei Drittel two thirds
1/4ein Viertel a fourth
11/4ein ein Viertel one and a fourth
3/4drei Viertel three fourths
1/5ein Fünftel a fifth
34/5drei vier Fünftel three and four fifths
1/11ein Elftel one eleventh
5/12fünf Zwölftel five twelfths
2/13zwei Dreizehntel two thirteenths

Practical examples:

  • 1/2 Liter = half a liter ; 1/2 Liter = einhalb Liter
  • 11/2 liters = one and a half liters ; 11/2 Liter = eineinhalb Liter
Decimal Numbers

Decimal Numbers

The decimal numbers are not quite the same in German and English because a comma is used instead of a point.

German/DeutschEnglish/Englisch
0,1null Komma eins zero comma one
0,2null Komma zwei zero comma two
1,1eins Komma eins one comma one
1,11eins Komma elf
eins Komma eins eins
one comma eleven

In some countries like the USA and Mexico, the decimal sign is written as a point and, although decimal sign in Germany is officially a comma, sometimes you hear the literal translation in German:

German/DeutschEnglish/Englisch
0.1null Punkt eins zero point one
0.2null Punkt zwei zero point two
1.1eins Punkt eins one point one
1.11eins Punkt elf one point eleven

Negative Numbers

Prices

Prices are expressed with letters in the following way in German:

German/DeutschEnglish/Englisch
0,05 €fünf Cent five cents
2 €zwei Euro two Euros
2,10 €zwei Euro zehn (Cent) two Euro ten

Positive and Negative Numbers

To show that a number is positive/negative, the words plus/minus are put in front of it.

(+1) plus eins
plus one

(-1) minus eins
minus one

Declension of cardinal numbers

The cardinal numbers are not declined with the exception of 1, 2 and 3.

Declension of 1 (eins)

  • If the 1 is not followed by a noun, it is not declined and eins is always used:

Formel eins
Formula one

  • If the "1" is followed by a noun, usually the weak declension is used, being equivalent to the indefinite article:

Ich habe eine Lampe
I have a lamp

MasculineFeminineNeuterPlural
Nominativeeineineein--
Accusativeeineneineein--
Dativeeinemeinereinem--
Genitiveeineseinereines--

Declension of 2 and 3

  • If the 2 or 3 are not followed by a noun, they are not declined and simply zwei and drei are used:
  • If the 2 or 3 are followed by a noun, they are declined only in the genitive in the case of them not being preceded by an article:

Abstand zweier Punkte
Distance of two points


Plural
Nominative
Accusative
Dative
zwei / drei
Genitivezweier / dreier

Declension of ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers follow the adjective declension rules.

An example of weak declension (given that the article "der" comes before the ordinal number in the genitive):

Die Kosten der zweiten Wohnung
The expenses of the second home

To supplement this glossary, we recommend you watch a video: